


Manipulation

by dontmindme_imafangirl



Series: Tumblr Angst Sentence Prompts [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Battlefield, Canon Universe, Heavy Angst, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Keith/Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron) Angst, Lance (Voltron)-centric, M/M, Mutual Pining, Non-Graphic Violence, there's just a lot of angst in this really
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-02-02 08:38:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,303
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12723255
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dontmindme_imafangirl/pseuds/dontmindme_imafangirl
Summary: Angst sentence Prompt: "YOU'RE INNOCENT! TELL THEM YOU'RE INNOCENT!" + KlanceLance never asked to be part of this, never asked to be a soldier, a fighter.Yet here he is.He just wonders if it was ever worth it.





	Manipulation

******  
How did he end up like this?

With blood on his hands, a ringing in his ears that’s loud to the point of deafening;

He sees them in the distance-there’s Allura and Shiro, Pidge wedged in the middle of them, and there’s Hunk, hands extended as if to catch him, but he’s so far away, how could Hunk reach him?

But wait, where’s-where’s Keith? Where’s that mullet ran off to?

He feels hands cradling his face, and oh, there he is, hey Keith-

-why is Keith’s face like that?

It’s unlike nothing he’s ever seen on Keith, his lips are snarled as if he’s yelling, and his eyebrows are forming creases, eyes wet and the hands on his cheeks are trembling so much…why is Keith like this? Why is he _crying?_

“-ance”

“Lance”

“Lance! Listen to me dammit! Can you hear me? Lance can you hear me?!”

He feels his eyes close and when they re-open he’s laying down, five pairs of eyes looming over him, the hands on his cheeks are gone and the ringing in his ears vanished, only the remnants of a blasting headache reminding him it was ever there in the first place.

Gingerly he sits up, feeling the pain in his head explode as he does.

“Lance oh thank god, we were so worried-“ he hears Hunk’s voice, edging in-between relief and worry.

“Lance”, there’s Shiro’s voice, authoritative and cautious, “what do you remember? Are you aware of where you are?”

There’s…memories, creeping back to him although they’re slow and hazy and…

“Oh who cares Shiro, let him orientate for a minute! Lance are you okay? Does anything hurt?!” that’s definitely Pidge’s voice, ebed with a raw emotion he’d never heard in it before.

Memories are now returning to him like booming thunders, flashing pulses of pain behind his eyes.

“Perhaps he needs more rest. Please, let’s give him some more time to recover-“ Allura speaks, her head turned away from him and looking across the room.

The memories.

The shooting.

_Keith._

“Keith, is Keith-“

He didn’t get to finish his sentence before a hand held his, turning his head to find Keith by his side. There’s a part on his bottom lip that’s red and bloody, as if he’s been worrying it for hours.

“The bullet-“

“Just grazed me” Keith finished the thought for him, “an hour in the healing pod and I’m good as new.”

“Then-then the prince, did I shoot him? Did he survive? Is he okay?!”

Silence.  
No one dared meet Lance’s gaze.

Of course, Lance remembered, the pain of just thinking about it causing Lance to dry heave.

It was supposed to be a peaceful mission.   
They were here for a diplomatic meeting, primarily standing guard while Allura and Shiro talked with the prince of this planet, a young green skinned man as tall as Shiro with three eyes and three arms and a polite smile called Damian, in hopes of them joining the coallition.

No one was expecting an attack.

No one was expecting Lotor’s generals to appear, wrecking havoc across the entire city they were situated in.

It was a gruesome fight, and Lance was only seperated from his team just for a minute, a moment too long before a hand gripped the back of his head and suddenly each concious thought he could master was thrown to the back of his mind and locked, each movement of his body out of his own control.

Is there anything worse than losing the entirety of your free will?

To be aware of your movements, of your actions, but be unable to control them?

He felt himself raise his bayard, the weapon changing form its current form into a sniper rifle.

He felt it come under his chin, he _felt_ his one eye close as the other one focused on a target-

Focused on the prince, fighting alongside Keith and Allura to protect his people.

His finger shook over the trigger, just a mere moment of hesitation, of struggling to regain his will, inwardly begging for them to run away to miss the shot to miss.

His finger pushed down the trigger, and the prince turned his head towards them, his eyes widening as the bullet hit his chest.

Everyone around him turned to look at where the shot came from, noticed Lance; bloodied, bruised Lance, with a sniper rifle that was now lowering, the hand on the back of his head releasing him to fall onto his knees, legs far too weak to bear his weight a minute longer.

He saw Keith, Keith who’d tried to step in front of the prince, a minute too late to protect him but enough to wince at the impact of the bullet meeting his side and it was all it took for Lance to collapse, knowing there’s _blood_ , blood on his hands, blood on the streets, it’s-

He never asked for this, never asked for _any_ of this, he never wanted to become a soldier in a fight he didn’t know if he could win, he never wanted to wield a gun, never wanted to do anything but become a pilot and explore space; but it was too late to hope and too late to take anything back.

He felt Keith’s hands cradle him, mouth forming words, probably asking why, what happened, _how could he do that-_

But Lance’s eyelids felt heavy, his own minds’ thoughts coming back at full force before his head felt like a burden to his shoulders and his consciousness faded.

“Lance-Lance focus, come back to me please!”

He could hear Keith speaking, could feel him sitting besides him on what he now figured to be a hospital bed, and he realised what he did, where he was, what was to come.

He took notice of the alien by the hospital door, dressed in a heavy armour, yellow eyes focused onto Lance with a malice Lance never thought anyone could look at him with.

“Lance we know it wasn’t you, we all saw Narti come up behind you, you’re not at fault here-please-“

Keith continued speaking, trying to reassure him as did the rest of the team-Allura promised him Coran was already at the Palace talking to the Prince’s officials, explaining to them that this was a case of mind control and not Lance’s free will, how he’s a paladin of Voltron and no one could’ve expected this to happen, it’s not his _fault_.

But Lance felt it, still felt the pressure of the trigger, still felt the expression on those eyes, the pain, the hurt;

_He was_ at fault.  
It was all his fault.

“Orders are orders. He’ll be taken into Triordian custody until we reach a final conviction for him.” the alien by the door said with finality, despite the team’s pleadings, walking towards them and standing by Lance’s bedside.

Wordlessly Lance stood up, putting on the shoes by the bed mechanically, avoiding everyone’s gaze.

The alien stood by him and nodded to the door, where Lance now noticed another pair of aliens were waiting, swords on their belts and heavy armour covering their chests.

He followed quietly, hearing the voices behind him reach a crescendo.

“Please no Lance, Lance YOU’RE INNOCENT! TELL THEM YOU’RE INNOCENT! He’s not at fault-“ Keith’s voice broke, making even the last bit of emotion in Lance’s heart break with despair.

He turned his head to meet Keith’s eye, see the bewildered expression on his face, the way his lips were agape and his stance ready for a fight.

He mouthed the words he’d wanted to say since so long, too shy to admit them to Keith’s face.

“I love you” he mouthed, his voice refusing to cooperate with his lips.

He only hoped Keith could accept it after everything Lance’d done.

*****

**Author's Note:**

> This is Tumblr angst sentence prompt #3!
> 
> Tumblr: dontmindme-imafangirl.tumblr.com (Shoot me a prompt if you'd like or just feel free to talk about Voltron and space and cryptids really ^^)
> 
> There's another three fics (currently) to post to the collection! :)


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